Vance adopts confrontational tone ?n Munich speech
*
Accuses European politicians ?f fearing t?eir o?n people*
Vance ?ays real threat f?r Europe ?? not fr?m Russia ?r China(Ad?s Munich conference ?n second paragraph, Pistorius in paragraph 10, Vance quote ?n paragraphs 15-16)
By Nandita Bose and Doina ChiacuWASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.?. Vice President JD Vance ?n ?riday too? a swipe ?t European governments f?r ??at he described as their censorship of free speech and t?eir political opponents, while la?gely avoiding t?e question of ho? t? resolve the Ukraine w?r.
Speaking to European political leaders, military officers ?nd diplomats ?t t?e Munich Security Conference, Vance surprised t?e audience ?y dismissing t?e risk of Russian political interference ?n Europe, t?king a simil?r stance to U.S. President Donald Trump, ?ho ?as railed ag?inst claims by U.S.
intelligence agencies that Russia ?ad interfered on his behalf ?n t?e 2016 election.
Vance adopted ? confrontational tone, accusing European politicians ?f ?hat h? said w?? a fear of the?r ?wn people and warned t?em that the real threat ?gainst their democracy was not f?om Russia or China.
"The threat I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China, it's not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America," Vance ?aid.
??e future of Ukraine was at the t?p of the agenda ?n Munich aft?r a phone call between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin t?is week ?here t?ey pledged to wor? together to end the conflict, b?t Vance di? not ?ring it ?p.
Inste?d, he said Brussels had shut d?wn social media ?ver hateful ?ontent, ?nd criticized Germany f?r wh?t ?e d?scribed ?s raids ag?inst it? ?wn citizens for posting anti-feminist comments, Sweden f?r convicting a Christian activist, ?nd United Kingdom for backsliding ?n religious ?ights.
A Reuters reporter in one ?f the side ?ooms ?her? more delegates ?ould listen t? Vance said people appeared stunned ?nd did not applaud.
?he vice president'? speech sparked imm?diate criticism in Europe."Vance´s attack on European democracy in Munich, perversely twisting the language of democracy itself should leave no doubt whatsoever that the aim of this administration is to destroy the EU and its liberal democracies," sa?d Nathalie Tocci, director ?f Istituto Affari Internazionali t?ink tank.
Responding t? Vance's speech, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius t?ld t?e conference: "If I understood him correctly he is comparing parts of Europe with authoritarian regimes. This is not acceptable."
VANCE CRITICIZES ROMANIAN ELECTION CANCELLATIONVance ?pecifically targeted t?e Dec?mber cancellation of Romania's elections, w??ch were annulled ?? the country'? t?p court aft?r accusations ?f Russian meddling, dismissing worries ?f disinformation a? "ugly Soviet-era words".
"If you're running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you," Vance ?aid.
Romania's Nov. 24 vote w?s annulled aft?r declassified security documents ?aid Romania had ??en a target of "aggressive hybrid Russian attacks" during t?? election period.
Calin Georgescu, ? ?ard-?ight, ?elf-styled outsider critical of NATO w?o w?nts t? end ?is country'? support f?r ?ts neighbour Ukraine, ??? polling in single digits ?n ?ctober, b?t surged t? a surprise victory in th? f?rst round of th? presidential election.
"You can believe it's wrong for Russia to buy social media advertisements to influence your elections. We certainly do. You can condemn it on the world stage even. But if your democracy can be destroyed with a few $100,000 of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn't very strong to begin with," Vance t?ld the crowd.
Vance questioned Washington'? support ?nd funding of ?hat was billed as a defense of democracy ?nd support ?f Ukraine in the nam? of shared values.
"But when we see European courts canceling elections and senior officials threatening to cancel others, we ought to ask whether we're holding ourselves to an appropriately high standard," ?e said.
(Reporting ?y Nandita Bose, Humeyra Pamuk ?nd Doina Chiacu in Washington, Jonathan Landay ?n Munich, editing b? Deepa Babington and ?on Durfee)
??ok into my web site ::
dee999